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Nigeria: Churchgate Files Contempt Charges Against Edo Ag
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This Day (Lagos)
14 May 2008
Posted to the web 15 May 2008
Lagos
Churchgate Industries Nigeria Limited has filed contempt proceedings against the Attorney General of Edo State over alleged failure of Edo State Government and its agents to obey court orders.
The court orders - a copy of which was made available to THISDAY had restraining the State Government from running the affairs of Bendel Brewery Limited whose management control had been subject of sustained litigation between Churchgate and the State Government.
Churchgate Industries Limited had won a unanimous decision of the Court of Appeal in Benin Judicial Division, which restored the management of Bendel Brewery Limited to Churchgate on the 17th of October 2006. The Appellate court in the ruling had dismissed an appeal filed by Edo State Government contesting an earlier ruling of the Federal High Court Benin delivered on the 7th of November 2003, which ordered Edo State Government not to interfere in the running of Bendel Brewery.
The court had further ordered that the Board of Directors of Bendel Brewery existing as at the June 17th 2003 in which Churchgate Industries Limited had majority of the members should be reinstated.
The Appeal court, which dismissed the appeal of theState Government as lacking in merit, upheld the ruling of the lower court and ordered the State Government and its agents to stop further running of the brewery. It also restored its management to Churchgate Industries, which has majority shareholding in the company.
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Following the failure ofthe State Government to abide by the decision of both the Federal High Court, Benin and the Court of Appeal, Churchgate Industries Nigeria Limited proceeded again to the Federal High Court Benin and filed contempt charges against Edo State Government as represented by its Attorney General and Mr. Osaro Idah a former General Manager of Bendel Brewery. Churchgate urged the court to commit them to prison for their failure to abide by its decision. The contempt case is presently before the Federal High Court Benin judicial division.
Bendel Brewery Limited was previously owned and managed by Edo State Government before it became moribund and insolvent as a result of mismanagement while under Government control. Based on the statement of claims filed by Churchgate Industries Limited, the company argued that it entered into agreement with Edo State Government in 1992 under the auspices of the then Technical Committee for Privatisation and Commercialisation (TCPC) now Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) and became majority core investor/manager of the brewery with equity shares of 51 per cent, Edo State Government retained 25 per cent, the workers got 5 per cent and other Nigerians 19 per cent.
Churchgate Industries Limited further contended that in line with the privatisation agreement, it invested funds and successfully reactivated the Brewery.
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